Find out what motivates one of Long Beach’s most committed community activists, Justin Rudd

BY JAMES F. MILLS
PHOTOGRAPHED FOR FRONTIERS BY STEVEN BARSTON

Justin Rudd's time is now.

After years of community activism, the 38-year-old Alabama native is getting widespread recognition. Late last year, he was voted one of the 10 Most Powerful People in Long Beach and also Person of the Year by Long Beach Post readers. He served as grand marshall at the 2007 Long Beach Christmas Parade. On Earth Day, the Long Beach City Council honored him for his environmental work. And on May 18, he'll serve as the grand marshal at the Long Beach Pride parade.

A short list of his accomplishments for those who have been hiding under a rock: he hosts a monthly 30-Minute Beach Clean-Up, sponsors the Long Beach Turkey Trot 5K/10K runs, organizes an adult Spelling Bee, and holds both a Mom Prom and a Father-Daughter Valentine's Dance. For needy kids, he does Operation Easter Basket and at Christmas time, Bears, Bikes, Beds & Blankets. For animal lovers, he created the Haute Dog Easter and Howl’oween Parade and Pet Adoption Fair, runs a doggie poetry contest, and created the nation's only bulldog beauty contest. Oh, and he also successfully lobbied the Long Beach City Council for the creation of an off-leash dog beach.

“I'm just one person trying to make a difference,” he says humbly. “I try to be a role model for others, especially younger people. I'm always trying to push myself to do better.”

He claims his good works are a result of God's guidance. “As a Christian person, I think God instructs us to do good things, to be giving, to be kind, to be helpful, and to be a role model,” he says. “That drives me.”

Frequently seen in Belmont Shore pulling his bulldogs, Rosie and Riley, around in a red Radio Flyer wagon, Rudd has been called the Donald Trump of community activism. He's created a brand name for himself by consistently creating quality events.

“When Justin puts on an event, people know it's going to be fun and worthwhile,” says longtime friend Marty O'Malley. “I think Justin is one of the best things about Long Beach. He brings so much to the quality of life here.”

“Justin's so passionate about the things he does, you just want to get involved with it,” says Brad Gerow, who joined Rudd's weekly beach boot camp in March and soon was volunteering at other events.

Rudd's charismatic personality and enthusiasm for life generally wins over skeptics. “He's got that star quality. People are drawn to it,” says Ralph Millero, Rudd's boyfriend of the past five years. “If you're going to donate your time to charity, it's fun to donate it with Justin.”

Rudd's community in-volvement grew out of meeting his own needs. Upon moving to Long Beach in 1996, he wanted to meet people. Since he ate out nightly (he doesn't cook), he started a gay supper club that went to different restaurants every Monday night, amassing a large e-mail database in the process.

After he got his first bulldog 11 years ago, he started inviting supper club friends to bring their dogs to play in the park with her. For a lark, Rudd suggested that they all dress up their dogs for an Easter parade down Second Avenue in Belmont Shore. That whimsical idea was such a hit, it became a yearly event and spawned a “Howl’oween” parade as well. From there, many other animal-related activities followed, including a 2005 appearance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, one of his proudest moments.

O'Malley notes that while Rudd's events were initially gay-oriented, they gradually expanded to the wider community, bringing together divergent groups that might otherwise never interact. Vanessa Romain, co-president of Long Beach Pride, says his ability to draw in so many different groups was a large factor in Rudd's selection as grand marshall, “He does exemplary work in arenas beyond the gay and lesbian community. He involves all of Long Beach.”

For years, people encouraged Rudd to enter politics. He finally threw his hat into the ring in 2006, running for a 3rd district City Council seat. Yet a mere week after filing, he withdrew from the race.

“I decided that my purpose here in Long Beach is simple and I was already doing it,” Rudd confesses. “City Council would be too bureaucratic—have too much red tape. I didn't realize that until a few weeks in. I feel like I'm more effective doing what I'm doing now.”

Even though he did no campaigning, his name still appeared on the ballot and he finished in third place.

Many of Rudd's events involve helping kids or providing adults the opportunity to relive their childhoods. While armchair psychologists might claim he's making up for what he missed in his childhood, Rudd sums it up simply by saying, “We're never too old to feel young. We should celebrate life and youth daily.”

Rudd reports having a happy childhood growing up in Ozark, Ala., a rural area near the Georgia/Florida border. His family was close. He sang in church and school choirs, and was class president all four years of high school. Although he did participate in traditionally masculine activities such as sports and hunting, he didn't especially enjoy them, preferring instead to watch beauty pageants or parades on TV, thrilling at the glitz and production of them.

When he came out at age 24, his family did not react well. He prefers not to dwell on that time, offering instead a positive spin, “When your support network is no longer there, you learn to be independent. You find someone else who is going to be supportive.”

Soon afterwards, he moved to North Hollywood to live with a man he met and fell in love with at the Miss America pageant in Atlantic City. “God put the right person into my life to get me out of Alabama,” he says.

His fascination with beauty pageants ultimately turned into the thing which pays many of his bills. After realizing there were no how-to books for beauty pageant contestants, he wrote 1001 Pageant Questions. When that book proved successful, contestants started hiring him to be their personal coach.

Millero laughs, “Every straight man in America would love to be me. There isn't a week that I don't come home and find some beauty pageant contestant in our house, usually trying on bikinis or gowns to get Justin's opinion.”

Andrea Preuss of Huntington Beach, who was Mrs. USA 2003 and Mrs. America 2006, used Justin's services for both contests. “Justin's amazing,” she says. “I work in corporate America, and there is no job I have never gotten. I attribute that to the communication skills I learned thanks to Justin helping me prepare for those pageants.”

Rudd's latest event is the Long Beach Giving Project where 15 people will receive $500 which they must give away to deserving people in $100 increments. Set to get underway in early May, the person judged to have done the best job wins $1000. Rudd modeled his Giving Project after Oprah's Big Give, a reality TV show on which he wanted to be a contestant, but was in Florida when the L.A. auditions were held.

Of all the things he's done, what's his proudest accomplishment?

“The dog beach, of all things,” he says without hesitation. “You go out there on any afternoon, you'll see so many dogs out there loving it, enjoying it. It makes me so proud.”